Although the new Justice Department issuance is seven pages long, it sends the message that federal officials are closely monitoring audit efforts.It is extremely rare to have an election audit. The memo states that the Department is concerned about the possibility that certain jurisdictions performing them might use or propose to use procedures that could violate the Civil Rights Act.The official stated that we are closely monitoring what's happening in the country. He alternately refers to the reviews as audits, or so-called audits.This guidance comes as Arizona's most important post-election audit drags on for months. It has gone well beyond the original timeframe. Experts in election management say that conspiracy theories and inexperience have hampered the effort.In May, the Justice Department sent an Arizona state Senate letter raising concerns about the inadequacies of the Maricopa County audit procedures. This was to express concern that they did not comply with federal law. Federal officials declined to say whether they were planning to sue the state or any other jurisdiction. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 requires that election authorities preserve federal election ballots for 22 months.According to a DOJ official, we cannot comment on any investigation that may be underway.As former President Donald Trump combines his calls for audits and pressure on states to curtail mail-in vote, the Justice Department warned Wednesday to state officials that they should not assume it is legal to return to pre-pandemic policies.We did not want to give jurisdictions a safe harbour to say.The official said that they were simply advising jurisdictions that if they abandon practices that make it easier to vote, this will not be subject to scrutiny by the Department of Justice.The Justice Department sued Georgia last month over recent changes to election procedures. These included reducing the use of dropboxes in comparison to their deployment in 2020 and imposing restrictions on the sending of absentee ballot request forms.Officials from Georgia said that the suit was not meritorious, noting that some northeastern states have stricter practices for absentee or early voting.The Justice Department lawsuit argued that Georgia's legislative changes were discriminatory and that they were intended to disadvantage African American voters. If this can be proved in court, then comparisons with other states might have little effect.Civil rights groups are also suing Georgia, arguing that the new Georgia state election law is racially biased and unlawful due to its disparate effect on Black voters.However, the new audit guidance does not state that it is illegal for a locality or state to hire a contractor to review ballots. However, the Justice Department warns against using contractors for ballot reviews as it increases the likelihood of fraud.According to the DOJ pronouncement, election records that are not under the control of election officials can be easily hacked. Additionally, elections records that are not under the control election officials can pose a serious risk of being lost, stolen or altered, compromised, destroyed, and this is despite the fact that they have been removed from their custody. This risk is magnified if election records are handed to private parties who do not have the necessary expertise or experience in handling such records, and are unaware of the federal laws.
